"FDNY douses dud-extinguisher scam"

[FDNY 10-75 640]

From the NY Daily News: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2...isher_scam.html

FDNY douses dud-extinguisher scam

By Dorian Block

DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Sunday, December 30th 2007, 4:00 AM

Two Brooklyn men were busted Saturday for blackmailing a businessman into buying fire extinguishers that shot blanks.

Sergey Vishnev, 27, and Maxim Ilim, 26, face up to seven years in prison for telling a Manhattan business owner that the fire marshal would shut down his business if he did not purchase fire extinguishers the men were selling for $1,350, investigators said.

Intimidated, the owner paid $700 and got four extinguishers in return, but the extinguishers did not work. The businessman contacted the Fire Department's Department of Investigation, whose agents went undercover and found stolen inspection tags on other extinguishers sold by the men.

"These allegations are troubling not only because they involve intimidation and a demand for money but also because they involve equipment designed to protect the public," said Rose Gill Hearn, commissioner of the Department of Investigation. Vishnev and Ilim were each charged with four counts of reckless endangerment and grand larceny, including two felony counts.